Climate shocks must spur investment induced growth, says PM

 

By Kimone Witter  

 

 

Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness is urging the private sector, locally and internationally, to view climate-related shocks not only as moments of recovery but as catalysts for investment induced growth.

 

Dr. Holness has stressed that private sector participation is central to rebuilding stronger communities, expanding economic activity, and accelerating long term growth following recent hurricanes.

 

He said the operationalisation of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) is intended to create a structured platform for public-private collaboration, enabling projects that previously lacked financing to now move forward at scale.

 

Addressing the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) 21st Regional Investments and Capital Markets Conference at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, this week, Dr. Holness pointed to a wide development corridor spanning Manchester, St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Hanover, St. James, Trelawny, and St. Ann as areas where investment can be unlocked through reconstruction.

 

"So I use this opportunity today, speaking to the private sector of Jamaica and our friends internationally, that the hurricane, possibly sending us a message, came ashore at New Hope. We must not waste the crisis that the hurricane would have created, which is if you flip it around, it is an opportunity to reconstruct and rebuild all of those parishes, who were, before the hurricane, in need of major investment. Now, we have the opportunity to actually do the investment with the financing," he noted.

 

In the meantime, Prime Minister Holness said the government will pursue deliberate and far-reaching financial sector and capital market reforms.

 

He said these will support economic resurgence, resilience and long-term national development as the country recovers from the impacts of Hurricane Melissa.

 

According to Dr. Holness, this approach will be marked by lower public debt, strong external reserves and increasingly sophisticated domestic capital markets.

 

"Today Jamaica operates in a vastly different macroeconomic environment with significantly lower public debt, robust external reserves, credible and durable fiscal anchors and deeper, more sophisticated domestic capital markets. It is therefore time, deliberately, responsibly and transparently, to revisit and modernise elements of the financial regulatory framework," he asserted.. 

 

He stressed that this was not intended to weaken stability, "but to ensure that regulation is aligned with evolving risk profiles, increased market sophistication, innovation in financial products and instruments, and the imperative for capital markets to play a more dynamic role in fuelling economic resurgence and resilience".

 

In the meantime, the Prime Minister said upcoming budget initiatives will reflect the new policy direction of strengthening capital markets, modernising regulatory elements and ensuring the financial system can support recovery, opportunity creation and long-term resilience, while stability remains firmly protected.